Charakteristiky vědy a vědeckých činností; úvahy co je a co není vědecké

Characteristics of Science and Scientific Activities: Considerations about What Is and What Is Not Scientific

journal article in Web of Science

en

The paper deals with non-traditional but highly needed issues: to formulate criteria of a scientific activity. It is really unbelievable that in the period of information and scientific society such criteria do not exist and there are no fixed rules for assessment of scientific activities. However, in many fields of science, e.g., in reviews of scientific works or papers, reviewers are asked to assess whether or not the submitted work or text is scientific. Naturally, this decision is not objective even if done by leading scientific individuals. Scientists may possess rather different individual criteria, and especially in doctoral studies, but not only there, it is desirable to make the review more objective. A doctoral thesis should be accepted only in case it brings some scientific achievement. Keeping in mind how difficult it can be to formalize and evaluate science, the authors try to propose attributes of scientific activities and to formulate some basic recommendations how to assess scientific work. Of course, the paper does not intend to formulate any generally imperative rules, but rather to start a broader discussion of these topics.

Příspěvek se zabývá netradiční, ovšem vysoce potřebnou tématikou: formulovat kritéria vědecké činnosti. To umožní recenzentům objektivně hodnotit vědeckost či nevědeckost posuzovaných prací (disertačních, habilitačních, výzkumných apod.). Bude ukázáno, že vymezit „vědeckost“ vyžaduje vymezit pojem „věda“.

The paper deals with non-traditional but highly needed issues: to formulate criteria of a scientific activity. It is really unbelievable that in the period of information and scientific society such criteria do not exist and there are no fixed rules for assessment of scientific activities. However, in many fields of science, e.g., in reviews of scientific works or papers, reviewers are asked to assess whether or not the submitted work or text is scientific. Naturally, this decision is not objective even if done by leading scientific individuals. Scientists may possess rather different individual criteria, and especially in doctoral studies, but not only there, it is desirable to make the review more objective. A doctoral thesis should be accepted only in case it brings some scientific achievement. Keeping in mind how difficult it can be to formalize and evaluate science, the authors try to propose attributes of scientific activities and to formulate some basic recommendations how to assess scientific work. Of course, the paper does not intend to formulate any generally imperative rules, but rather to start a broader discussion of these topics.

Charakteristiky vědy, základní vědecké obory a oblasti, vědecké činnosti, nevědecké činnosti, systémová metodologie.

Characteristics of science, basic scientific firlds and branches, scientific activities, non- scientific activities, systemic methodology

2012

25.09.2012

2159-5275

2

9

573–583

11